Chos contribution as fearless critic will always be missed

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Condoling the death of veteran journalist and former Rajya Sabha member Cho Ramaswamy, BJP President Amit Shah today said his contribution as fearless critic and impartial assessment of political issues will always be missed.

"I am at the loss of words on the death of Shri Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy. He was a brilliant political commentator, a renowned theatre personality, script writer, eminent lawyer and the editor of Thuglak magazine. Thiru Cho Ramaswamy was greatly admired by our national political leaders like Atalji, Advaniji, Modiji, among others.

"I recall with great satisfaction that it was the BJP-led government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee that nominated the distinguished Cho Ramaswamy to the Rajya Sabha from 1999 to 2005. His contribution as fearless critic and impartial assessment of political issues will always be missed," Shah said.

Senior party leader L K Advani also mourned his passing away, noting that Ramaswamy was a multi-faceted personality and an opinion maker in Tamil Nadu politics.

"I deeply mourn the sad demise of Shri Cho Ramaswamy, a great patriot journalist, commentator and political satirist. As a founder of Thughlak magazine, he took up various issues of public importance.

"He was a multi-faceted personality and was an opinion maker in Tamil Nadu politics. He directed several movies and was a popular stage actor," Advani said.

Born Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy, the Cho name stuck after a memorable character from a stage play Thenmozhiyal.

Ramaswamy (82) died in Chennai today following illness. Through his Thuqlaq magazine, he guided the people of Tamil Nadu on all national and social issues and was a role model for all budding journalists.

He has also acted in many movies and worked with matinee idols M G Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan, besides Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. PTI KR RCJ

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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